I am puzzled why do many modelers have a fear of vac form kits .Once you get the basic techniques down they are no more difficult to assemble than injection molded and resin kits!On here and other forums they are amazed at how well my vac form kits come out!When I am thinking "what is the big deal?"What do you formites think?
Well, dodgy moldings, detail and fit. Combat being a posterchild of worst-case scenario vac kits. “Combat - It’s not just a brand, it’s a description!” Yes there are high end vac kits like Koster and Dynavector, but they still need more fettling and DIY engineering solutions.
Back in the day (1970s) the other challenge was obtaining detail parts like props, engines and wheels. But that is no longer the case, with a dizzying array of aftermarket bits coming out monthly.
I think today the main reason most people don’t want to try a vac is because there are so many esoteric subjects that have become available in injection plastic.
I think every single vac kit I ever owned (not built) has seen an injection molded replacement appear. The exceptions are the Wings X-24A/B and the Nova C-141A/B. Heck, the Wings M2F2 (Steve Austin: “I can’t hold her, she’s breaking up, she’s breaking up!”) is soon to have a plastic competitor.
That being said, if someone offered me a Dynavector TSR.2, I’d jump on it - the Airfix kit is a monstrosity with weird shapes and blobby detail.
Just no interest,same as a a resin ship,or a balsa airplane no interest,everything that I want to build in my genres is available in injection molded.
No problems, just never was interested in building one.
All valid points!I like them because they are cheap!
I have to say that some of my most attractive and well received planes are vac forms!
[Y]
I never saw the big deal either. A little extra planning and foresight required, a little scrounging for parts here and there, but basic techniques (beyond simply cutting out the parts) not much different than kits.
I got into them originally in the days when vacs were available of ‘odd’ stuff that conventional styrene manufacturers ignored…like lesser-known WW1 types and interesting prototypes that never saw production…or ‘early’ types (like Allison-engine P-51s, long before the Accurate Miniatures versions hit the market).
Most came with no interior detail other than an indifferently-molded seat; but having grown up on the (then-) 80¢ Monogram and Lindberg kits, scratching up a semblance of a cockpit was just part of the fun. And it was always cool having models that almost nobody else had – like Formaplane’s jewel-like little 1/72 Halberstadt CL II, still one of my favorite builds in nearly six decades of model building.
Yep!do you have a pic of it?post it up!
Alas, it came and went long before I got into digital photography of my models. I’ve got the later 1/48 Mirage version on my Instagram…but it’s not a vac kit.
A very sharp aircraft,nice weathering!
Thanks! [Y] Obviously a big CL.II fan, one of my favorite a/c of the era.
Cool
If I could go back in time, I guess I’d snatch the Nova C-141 out of my younger hands. Modeling experience accrued over 40+ years, better materials, and new tools would make building that vac a lot of fun. I did scratchbuild a decent cockpit for the kit back in the day. It was a pretty good vac kit. But I had no idea or ability to tackle the engine fronts.
The instructions mentioned that they tried really hard to mold the engine reverser fairings, but just could not make it work. Today, it’s just a trivial “pffffft” kind of problem, easily solved with Milliput and sheet plastic.
To quote a line from Robocop, I’d show up and say “We’ll take it from here Emille!” After whisking the kit out of the hands of my younger dumbfounded self, I’d activate the Pymm crystal, and return to the present time - to find a completely different world, where macrame has replaced modeling. [:S]
Interesting perspective!
The biggest vac form kit I’ve built was the SubTech USS MARLIN (SST-2) inn 1/35th scale. The MARLIN is 45" long. At the other end of the scale are a couple of 1/96th scale 26’ Motor Whaleboats MK 5 at 3.25" long. The motor whale boats were produced by Masterpieces In Miniature, which went out of business late last year. Masterpieces In Minature also produced 1/96th scale vac form kits of: LCM-6; LCVP; 26’ Personnel Boat MK 2; 26’ Motor Whale Boat MK 2; and 40’ Motor Launch.
I’ve also built the Dumas USS WHITEHALL (PCE 856) and CAROL MORAN, which have 2 piece vac formed hulls. The MARLIN, WHITEHALL and CAROL MORAN are operating rc mdels.
I have bunches of 1/72 WWI vacform kits from the day when vacfrm was the only way to get some exotic types. But I have never managed to finish one because the careful sanding is more than I have time for.
We all have our specialties. I enjoy putting railings and rigging on small-scale ships, and there are some folks who don’t. I don’t call it weird that they have different tastes, just different.
Not much leeway on smaller single engine 1/72 vac form kits ,that is why I make the larger multi engine 1/72 kits.
Not a fan. I have tried to build a 1/72 scale Armtec Hetzer (or is it 1/76) that is a mix of injection molded plastic and vacuform.